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Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: January 24, 2015

Pasadena Refinery Linked To Scandal In Brazil Needs A New Pollution Permit (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 1/18/2016)
“Even though it’s not the biggest refinery along the Houston Ship Channel, the facility known as the Pasadena Refining System has attracted attention here and internationally as well. It is one of the smaller ones, but it is disproportionately responsible for pollution,’ says Adrian Shelley, director of Air Alliance Houston, an environmental group. Shelley’s group is working to get nearby residents to attend a public hearing later this month. It’s being held by the Texas Commission on Environment Quality, the TCEQ, to hear testimony about whether Pasadena Refining System should be granted a new permit to emit air pollution.”www.houstonpublicmedia.org

Tons Of Coal Waste In Texas But EPA’s New Regulation Lacks Weight (Houston Public Media, 1/20/2016)
“No state burns more coal to make electricity than Texas. And therefore the state produces some of the nation’s largest amounts of what’s left over: coal ash. Millions of tons of coal ash end-up in landfills and waste ponds across Texas. Some of the ponds are unlined. The coal ash waste contains toxic metals, like mercury, and the fear is it could leach into groundwater. New federal rules by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are taking effect. The rules require new ponds be lined and most all such sites to be monitored for leaching. But there has been push-back from Texas and other states, which say the federal rules aren’t needed, because the states already have and enforce their own coal ash rules. But the federal ones are tougher says the EPA’s Betsy Devlin in Washington.”www.houstonpublicmedia.org

Scenic Houston raises funds to start Broadway upgrade (Erin Mulvaney – Houston Chronicle, 1/12/2016)
“A local nonprofit has raised nearly 70 percent of the money it needs to improve the look of a 2-mile stretch of Broadway Street, as part of an effort to give travelers leaving Hobby Airport a better first impression of the city.The leaders of Scenic Houston said Tuesday they have raised $5 million from public and private sources toward a $7.5 million plan to add more than 400 live oak trees, LED street lights, better crosswalks and cohesive landscaping to the street. Construction is slated to start in the second quarter. It is scheduled to finish by year’s end.”www.houstonchronicle.com